Breaking: Second judge rules against Trump on illegal immigration

A second federal judge has ruled against the Trump administration, saying that the president cannot end the DACA amnesty order implemented by former President Barack Obama in 2012.

What does the ruling say?

U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis issued a nation-wide injunction against the Trump administration ending DACA until pending litigation on the program is concluded.

“Defendants thus must continue processing both initial DACA applications and DACA renewal requests under the same terms and conditions that applied before September 5, 2017, subject to the limitations described below,” he wrote.

Garaufis was appointed by former President Bill Clinton.

This is the second ruling by a judge ordering the Trump administration to continue the program – the first was handed down in January by San Francisco-based U.S. District Court judge William Alsup. Judge Alsup said that Sessions acted according to a “flawed legal premise” that Obama did not have authority to implement the quasi-legal DACA status to illegal aliens.

New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman praised the ruling in a statement posted on Twitter.

“Federal courts from coast to coast have now reviewed the record and reached the same conclusion: President Trump’s decision to rescind DACA was illegal,” he said in the statement.

“Today’s federal court ruling is a victory for the over 42,000 New York Dreamers and more than 700,000 Dreamers across the country,” he continued. “There is much more work ahead to permanently preserve DACA and protect the millions of American families, businesses, hospitals, and universities that depend on Dreamers every day to succeed, but today is an important step forward in that fight.”

“Today’s ruling reflects not only the illegality of the Trump Administration’s move to rescind DACA, but also the clear and demonstrable benefits DACA provides to New Yorkers across our great state,” he added.

Trump offers pathway to citizenship to Dreamers

President Trump had ordered the DACA program to end in September 2017, but gave Congress six months to pass legislation to continue the “deportation deferral” status of recipients. The program was set to end on March 5th before court rulings came down against the administration.

Trump has offered to support a pathway to citizenship for 1.8 million DACA recipients, but asked for support of $25 billion for a border wall in exchange. Democrats have balked at the demand thus far.